Poverty Mountain bird survey ends out May

Red tailed Hawk, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Phoebe, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

Pink Ladyslippers, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Adams Brook, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

As is always the case May has gone by too fast and I ended the month assisting with the 21st year of the Poverty Mountain bird survey at Kevin and Cynthia's fantastic property in the corner of Amherst, Pelham and Shutesbury.  I stuck around the house longer than usual this morning to make sure Wilson was doing well enough after some surgery he had yesterday.  It was a tough afternoon and overnight for him (and us) but he had improved quite a bit so I headed out for a few hours to assist with the count.  It was not the highest count but not too bad given the cold weather to start the day.  I found a total of 50 species for the count and I'm sure a few other species got added by others elsewhere.  

Eastern Bluebird nestlings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Hooded Merganser eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Bluebird fledglings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Once back home late in the morning I checked the nest boxes and found some very freshly hatched Eastern Bluebirds and the Hooded Merganser still sitting on eggs in duck box #2.  I also have a Gray Catbird on a nest in some of the low bushes near the house.  A check of the camera on the water feature turned up a number of captures including at least three Eastern Bluebird fledglings.

Overall the month was fairly productive with 168 species in Hampshire County, which is slightly below usual but it did produce my first new Hampshire County species for the year with a Loggerhead Shrike a couple days ago. 

 

New Years Day birds

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Jan 1, 2026

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Jan 1, 2026

 

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Jan 1, 2026

Snowy Owl, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 1, 2026

Horned Larks and Snow Buntings, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 1, 2026

Field Sparrow, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 1, 2026

Eastern Bluebird, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jan 1, 2026

New Years Day is always a fun day to get out and bird as an annual count resets on January 1.  Despite cold, snow and wind to start off the new year I headed out to try to track down species to kick off 2026 before we headed south to warmer temps.  My main focus was warblers and more on those can be found at the following link: New Year's Day warblers.  I was out the door before dawn to try to track down owls before the arrival of a cold front with gusty winds and snow squalls.  I hit a variety of areas from Quabbin Park to Hadley before dawn and had the four typically occurring owl species here.  The snow squalls arrived a bit before dawn but the Eastern Screech Owls didn't seem to mind and were calling even during the snow.  Once it was light enough to see I started looking for warblers and found both the continued Audubon's as well as at least five Myrtle's, extending my consecutive streak of at least one warbler species in Hampshire County to 105 months.  During my search for the warblers I found a number of other notables along the river in Hadley over the course of an hour and a half including all the expected species of woodpeckers, a Ruby crowned Kinglet and Hermit Thrush.  As I was leaving the winds were really picking up so I knew it would be tough to track down passerines so decided to head to the East Meadows to see if any of the Snowy Owls were still around.  It was very tundra like there with strong winds and blowing snow and loads of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings and a couple Lapland Longspurs plus at least one Snowy Owl.  I didn't stay too long in the meadows before heading out with a brief stop near the Coolidge Bridge that produced multiple species of waterfowl including two male Ring necked Ducks.  I then headed to Hickory Ridge Conservation Area where I added multiple species of sparrows including at least two Field Sparrows and a Swamp Sparrow.  I then headed home and picked up Wilson for a walk and we added a few more species for the year.  The rest of the day was mainly spent cleaning up the snow and finishing up packing for our long trip south.  By the end of the day I had found 66 species to start the year...not too bad considering the conditions and my lack of time.  Now for a long drive south.

Christmas Bird Count to end the second week of December

Gray Catbird, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

American Goldfinches, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

American Tree Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Eastern Bluebird, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Northern Harrier, Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 11, 2025

 

Eastern Towhee, Granby, MA, Dec 9, 2025

Wilson on a very cold walk, Belchertown, MA, Dec 9, 2025

The annual Northampton Christmas Bird Count occurred despite a light snow that continued first a good portion of the day despite the forecast it would stop much earlier.  I didn't initially have a specific location to check for the count so I decided to head to a typically birdy area along the river in Hadley.  The roads were not great due to the snow but passable and not too stressful due to lack of traffic on a Sunday morning.  I spent about two hours in the snow and got quite a haul of unusual species with the best being the continued 'Audubon's' subspecies of the Yellow rumped Warbler.  Other notables included a male Northern Harrier (not too common at the location), all six species of woodpeckers here, a Ruby crowned Kinglet, a Gray Catbird, a couple Hermit Thrushes and at least eight 'Myrtle' subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler.  I'm glad I then ran into the team covering the area and gave them all the info on the birds, distance covered, time, etc so they could include it in the data for the day in their area.  I then headed home to walk the Wilson and start cleaning up the couple inches of snow.  

I have had some other good stuff the last few days despite the continued cold and at times very windy weather.  Yesterday was one of the better days with my best looks yet of the 'Audubon's' warbler.  I also added Eastern Towhee for the month at a private residence in Granby a few days ago.  With the addition of the above mentioned species as well as others not specifically mentioned I now stand at 97 species for the month in Hampshire County which puts me at the highest point ever for the first two weeks of December ever here by several species.  I have only reach the 100 species twice before in December (2018 with exactly 100 species and 2022 with 102 species).  Even if I didn't add any species for the remainder of the month it will already put me in third place ever for the month of December here.

First snow storm of the season today, Yellow rumped Warblers yesterday plus the return of a banded Black capped Chickadee

Wilson enjoying the first snow of the season, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 2, 2025

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 2, 2025

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Dec 2, 2025

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 2, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Dec 2, 2025

Today brought us our first snowstorm of the season with several inches of snow, sleet and then some rain.  I managed to get out at first light before the snow arrived and actually had a great assortment of waterfowl at Winsor Dam with ten species at least (some just too far away in bad light to ID).  I wanted to go into Quabbin Park itself for more waterfowl but they closed the park not long after I arrived due to the impending snow storm.  I then headed home and took Wilson for an early walk and the snow was just starting as we ended the walk a bit after nine.  I put out a few feeders for the first time just before the snow and the birds quickly found them.  I even caught sight of a banded Black capped Chickadee that was banded as an adult in the yard back in the summer of 2021.  I had not seen the individual since April of this year so was very happy to see it still around.  It is getting to be an old chickadee with the typical life span of the species being 2-3 years.  Wilson also got to enjoy the snow and was something I was glad to see him do.  Now we are in for below normal temps with more mid winter like with multiple days not breaking freezing and temps at night in the single digits.  Average highs now should still be in the low 40's but we don't look to be near that temp for the foreseeable future.

 

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025

   

Eastern Bluebird, Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025

Yesterday I also managed to find multiple Yellow rumped Warblers despite the breezy weather and the start of shotgun season for deer.  I only had a couple hours available to be out and I'm glad I tried for the warblers as it extended my consecutive streak of months of seeing at least one warbler species in Hampshire County to 104 months.  

Third week of November ends with a late Palm Warbler and increasing numbers of irruptives

Palm Warbler 'western', North Hadley, MA, Nov 21, 2025

Song Sparrow, North Hadley, MA, Nov 21, 2025

House Finch, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Nov 20, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Nov 20, 2025

White throated Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Nov 20, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 20, 2025

Fox Sparrow, Ware, MA, Nov 19, 2025

Purple Finches, Rail Trail, Ware, MA, Nov 19, 2025

Peregrine Falcon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 17, 2025

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 17, 2025

Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 17, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 17, 2025

Northern Cardinal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 16, 2025

Hooded Merganser, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 16, 2025

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 16, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 16, 2025

Eastern Bluebird, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Nov 15, 2025

The third week of November has now come to an end and our largely cooler than average and windy weather has continued with a few flurries on a couple days.  Given these weather conditions, the time of year plus the ongoing issues with Wilson (see below) I have concentrated on birds in the south Quabbin area (particularly around Winsor Dam).  Waterfowl is always the big draw here this time of year with gulls not far behind.  The best waterfowl species of the week was certainly the Barrow's Goldeneye at the Holyoke Dam on the 12th (and continued through the week).  No huge shows of waterfowl at Winsor Dam although the diversity has been decent overall with some mornings more productive than others.  The gull show has been good too with the best for the week being an Iceland Gull on the 17th.  Irruptives of multiple species continue to arrive into the area.  The best was a flyover White winged Crossbill on the 17th.  Evening Grosbeaks and Red Crossbills continue to be around in small numbers at multiple locations.  Pine Siskins and Purple Finches also continue to show quite well plus increasing numbers of American Goldfinches.  The Finch Forecast (which I contribute data to) called for the potential of a large flight of many species and so far the forecast is looking to be playing out.  It will be interesting to see what the rest of winter brings in.  With a little extra time away from home I covered a few spots the last couple mornings trying for late warblers and find a group of half a dozen Yellow rumped Warblers in an area they have overwintered in the past and a very late 'western' Palm Warbler today.

Wilson continues to occupy my time and thoughts as we struggle through what we will do with him.  For now we are just in monitor mode of the tumor and trying to stay on top of him making things worse.  As I said before there are no good options available for us and it continues to be some stressful times.  Thankfully he is still acting happy (although he really wants to lick at his foot every chance he gets!).